NEW WAYS TO SIGN UP FOR UBC’S CREATIVE WRITING COURSE IN NELSON
By Contributor
Quality doesn’t always come easy, but relief is in sight for area residents having trouble mastering UBC’s registration process for the university’s creative writing credit course in Nelson beginning (Friday) September 25.
“Lots of people reported to us a level of frustration with UBC’s online registration system,” said Verna Relkoff, president of the Kootenay Literary Society, who have helped convince UBC Okanagan to offer in Nelson “Writing From the Ground Up,” a weekend intensive writing course open to all comers between Sept. 25 and Nov. 7.
“Two new initiatives should make registration less of a challenge,” Relkoff said.
First, a registration night will be held at the Nelson Public Library on Monday, (September 21), from 6-8 p.m. Relkoff and others will be on hand to walk anyone through the registration process.
“And if you can’t make that session, and are still feeling baffled by UBC’s system,” Relkoff said, “we’ve now been assured by UBCO Creative Studies head Ashok Mathur that people can just show up at the first class and registration can be worked out later.”
However, those intending to bypass registration must notify KLS in advance by emailing to [email protected] with “Will show up” in the subject line, Relkoff said.
“That’s so we can keep track of student numbers,” she explained.
“If the class gets too full, we’re hopeful UBC will open a second section.”
The course will be held at the new UBC West Kootenay Teacher Education Program centre at 266 Baker Street (the former Nelson Daily News building).
Other details regarding the course, including how to launch the registration process, are on the Elephant Mountain Literary Festival site, www.emlfestival.com, under the “Courses” tab.
Instructing the course will be Sonnet L’Abbe, an award-winning author, editor and teacher, who comes to Nelson direct from her stint as 2015 writer-in-residence at Wilfrid Laurier University in Waterloo, Ontario.
Thanks to a $1,000 grant from Nelson Rotary and support as well from the Kootenay Literary Society, L’Abbe will also be available to offer area residents feedback on their own creative writing, and information on publishing or other literary matters.
Details on L’Abbe’s role as the UBC Nelson Rotary writer-in-residence, including how to obtain an appointment with her, is on the Elephant Mountain Literary Festival site, www.emlfestival.com, under the “Writer-in-residence” tab.
